Harry Potter of Jade and the Hat's Grimace
by Togira-Ikonoka
Summary: Hear enchantments, binding spells - Arousing something doomed to hells - of 7 fire binding quests - do travel in entrapment we - Seek sulken skulls to set us free...Canon 5th year, several things are very wrong, and Harry couldn't be more lost...R&R!Plz!


**A/N - **This is my first H/P fic. If it is shit, tell me so, if not, tell me so. I plan on writing more but it won't be good without your input -

To Shakespeare and snogging...

**Disclaimer - **I own nothing but my own characters...and anything else i have made up...

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As Harry climbed into Uncle Vernon's car, Tonks slowly whispered, 

"We will be, or Dumbledore will be, in contact with you in less than a week. You would do well to pack a few things when he calls, you may not be returning to London for a while…" With that knowledge and a slight air of confusion, Harry sat down in his Uncle's car, buckled his seatbelt, laid his head back on the headrest, and pretended to sleep.

The events of the past weeks vivid in his thoughts, and in his dreams, echoed through his conscience. Sirius' death, the attack on the Department of Mysteries. They had discovered what Voldemort had been searching for, but it was unknown to Harry how he really would have used it to gain power. They had protected the prophecy, and as a result, aided in the capture of several Death Eaters, most important of which, were Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfloy, or shall I say _Ciulus, _but that is a different part of this story, to be told much latter.

But that, to Harry, did not matter now; Harry had new thoughts to entertain, why would Dumbledore wish to contact him so soon? He wouldn't have unless something concerning the impending war had come up and Harry needed to be involved, one way or another…

'_Well, all I can do now is wait. When Dumbledore wants me, he'll send someone to get me…'_ And with that, they arrived in Surrey, driving slowly up Privet Drive towards the house Harry had only lived in, not called home, since he could remember. Because home is, really, where your heart lies, and Harry's heart, at this moment, lay with Hogwarts, no where near Little Whinging.

Dudley wasn't there; he had apparently been signed up for a summer camp in Bristol by his school nurse, along with the majority of his entourage, Piers Polkiss, because it seems that once again, he had gained weight. Dudley hadn't chanced a good look at him the night he had arrived at the house, so he didn't know if it was true, but knowing Dudley, it was.

Then, after two weeks of waiting, a small letter from Dumbledore arrived stating that he was to be picked up in the parlor at 3:00 that same day.

Security was obviously tight, as the letter had arrived by the wings of none other Fawkes, Dumbledore's trusted phoenix. Along with the letter came a small piece of rugged and oddly sharp jade. Feeling that is was better suited for some cave of the southern coast of China, Harry threw it aside, and it landed with a soft thump upon his bed. The small rock was as sharp as any stalagmite Harry had ever seen, but on a much smaller scale. Harry was positive Fawkes could have carried the entire cave from which it came with him, being that during Harry's second year, the bird carried not only Harry, but Hermione, Ron, Ginny _and_ the unforgettable Gilderoy Lockhart, up and out of The Chamber of Secrets, all at once.

Harry assumed they would be traveling by means of Floo Powder, and luckily, Vernon had, while Harry was at school, transformed the parlor into a large sitting room after the disaster with the Weasleys at the end of third year break. He had added a very large and overpowering red brick fireplace to the western most wall that took up the space of several small cattle, which, coincidently, was perfect for Flooing.

Unfortunately, Harry had to alert his uncle to the fact that there would one or two, if not several, witches and wizards in his home, and regretfully, that they would be traveling by fireplace.

"As long as they don't make such a ruddy mess as they did the last time, I don't give a jackass's backside. Just make sure they aren't' here for more than ten minutes, and we aren't feeding 'em either. And another thing, your room had better be spotless, boy, if you're leaving with them. I don't want any of your shit strewn all over my house. And if it is, you'll easily find Dudley's Smelting up your back end when you get back." Vernon was obviously not aware of Harry change in the past months. He had grown colder, and stronger, and his Uncle was now no match.

Vernon's temper _was_ explainable, as soon as Harry had gotten back at the house he had noticed that his Uncle was on a medication of some sort. Assuming it was for high blood pressure, Harry just dismissed the attitude.

That, among many other strange things, was a recent string of events at the house that Harry found oddly peculiar. On one such event, his Aunt and Uncle had gone shopping for sweets to send to their Dudley demented at camp. During this time, they had oddly chosen to leave Harry at home, an odd first step in finally trusting him.

His time alone was relatively quiet, except for the usual afternoon stop of the mailman at the front door. He was incapable of stopping at the mailbox because for some reason, unknown to anyone else but Harry, the mailbox had imploded into a shimmering golden message that when read, revealed the true guise of the would be pranker duo:

_A sample for you of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Thanks to a generous donation from:_

_Mr. H. Potter_

No one had seen this except Harry, partially because it happened at two in the morning, when Harry was awake practicing spells assigned to him by Flitwick in the dark, under the covers of his bed. And also, because the noise associated with the blast would have racked the nervous systems of any and all living creatures within a mile radius.

When his uncle awoke the next day and asked Harry sternly if he kne3w anything about the blast, he replied with a simple no, even though he knew as much as any normal wizard would.

So now, everyday, the mailman dropped off his letters with a smile at the Dursley household, and turned around, walking toward Mrs. Figg's. Although he never received letters by muggle post, he checked anyway, not wanting to miss a chance for a letter to come for him, as his Aunt and Uncle would have most likely smuggled away anything and everything addressed to Harry. Nothing in the stack was addressed to him, but one oddly wizard like letter stuck out from the rest.

It wasn't the address that first threw him off; it was the odd wax seal. As far as Harry knew, the only people to still use the seal were those in the wizarding world. It was so like the Hogwarts seal, and yet so different. It also wasn't addressed to anyone Harry had known to live in the house.

Harry sat and wondered what this meant for quite some time. His Aunt and Uncle soon arrived home, whilst the letter was still clutched in Harry's right hand, he was deep in thought.

"Oh, your home." Harry felt less enthusiastic than a Lactose-Intolerant man at a cow farm.

"Yes, too bad they didn't have those truffle Dudders likes so much…" Harry's aunt obviously had no clue as to the implications as to why Dudley was at camp in the first place.

"Yes, anything happen while we were gone boy? You look guilty, what did you do, and what the ruddy hell is that in your hand?"

"Oh, nothing, but this is a letter, an odd one too. It's addressed to Glynndewelle…do you know ho she is? I didn't even think Glynndewelle was a name…and the return address is incomplete to, huh, I wonder why?"

His aunt was furious, "Give me that you little git! You have no right to go into our personal property! You-You…you just never mind this." Harry would never know what had gotten her into such a tizzy…

Harry ran up to his room to pack his things. No one had instructed him as to the specifics of what to bring, so, heeding Tonks' warning, he packed almost everything. First, the invisibility cloak, one of the many magical instruments hidden beneath the years of the loose floorboard. Also there ,was his wand, Harry thought it unsafe to keep it someplace as obvious and unsafe as his trunk…and also there was one of the few pictures he had of his parents together, he had hid it there for fear that his aunt would take it. Everything else was in his trunk, his robes, normal and dress, school books, other magical nick-knacks, any and all change not spent during the duration of last years term, a thestral feather, his favorite muggle sweatshirts, and the small piece of jade Dumbledore had sent him. Harry had figured it was sent for a reason and he intended to find out what exactly that reason was.

All of his things packed, Harry headed down the creaking carpeted steps and read the old Victorian grandfather clock on the way down. It read 2:48, 12 minutes to his scheduled salvation. He amusedly wondered who, out the many in his guard, would come to whisk him away. Would it be Tonks, whom Harry thought was beautiful and mildly attracted to, or wood, oops, please excuse me…or would it be the wise ol' Alastor Moody? It could have even been Dumbledore, although Harry seriously doubted this, he couldn't have known.

The twelve minutes flew past like seconds, partially due to the fact that Aunt Petunia skittled around cleaning every spectual of dust she found, and un-smudging every smudge that was smudged, (Even though she allegedly despised these people, she had to make the housed look as immaculate as possible, even though her actions were in vain, that house was never clean.) and partially because time flees when one is enjoying him or herself, and Harry was highly entertained at the thought having to spend even less time there, at his Aunt and Uncle's _humble abode._

Then, in a dusting of green flame, out from the fireplace came Mad-Eye Moody and Tonks, who with her metamorphmagus abilities, had given herself purple hair.

"Harry!" Tonks ran forward out of the fireplace and gave him such a breath taking hug it could have been misinterpreted as love, but it was really just out of relief to not see him dead and mangled, simply put, these were dangerous times, and he was lucky to be alive, whether he knew it or not.

"How do like the hair? I know it's purple and everything. I wouldn't use it anymore, but I just find myself going back to it every morning…"

"Aye Nymphadora, but not everyone cares about your most recent hairstyle." Mad-Eye, as droll as ever, made his way out of the fireplace and glanced around. His fake swerved this way and that, combing every inch of the Dursley home as it were under constant attack.

"Well Harry does…don't you Harry?"

"Oh, ah, sure, yeah. But uhh, don't you think we should get going?"

"Yes, we probably should, but Dumbledore asked me to tell you something first before we leave. He wanted you to know that all the Death Eaters we apprehended in the Department of Mysteries have been sentenced for life in Azkaban, all except Lucius Malfloy; he always seems to evade final punishments. I blame the damn ministry and the fondness for bribes. I can't remember how many times I have caught that little bugger just to have him set free again."

While Mad-Eye continued reminiscing of the old days, Tonks had changed her hair from purple to pink, another one of her normal shades, and was busy levitating Harry's trunk. Slowly lifting it into the fire with her wand, she withdrew a small black leather pouch from her blue Spandex pants, and threw some Floo into the fire. She then whispered '_Hogwarts,'_ and the trunk took off toward Dumbledore's office, and to oncoming freedom.

"Is it safe now to travel by Floo? I thought that department in the Ministry was closely watching all of our actions." Harry remembered one of the last times he had been with his guard. They were forced to fly by broomstick instead of by fireplace due to the unstable network.

"Yes, it is. After the Department of Mysteries fiasco we easily persuaded several of the Ministries smaller branches to secretly join us and the Order, working as double agents for both sides. The department that controls the floos was one of them. They will work with us secretly until the entire Ministry sees the truth, which, with the way things are going…will be very soon."

Tonks stepped into the licking green flames, took a handful of Floo Powder from her pouch and handed it to Moody. Throwing the light green powder into the fire she yelled Hogwarts, and took off. Harry was to go next, and did so without question. After flying through the chimney like system, he arrived with a soft thud on the warm carpet of Dumbledore's office.

Tonks was there, wand at the ready, just in case they were being pursued. Alastor came out, mumbling about the narrow system from which he just came, said a polite hello to Dumbledore, and walked out the door, Tonks in tow.

There sat Dumbledore, slowly stroking Fawkes and reading what seemed to be an ancient book older than Hogwarts itself, and in truth, it was…but Harry could not read it, as it was entitled in a language few and far between any he was aware of. If only he had taken Ancient Runes with Hermione…

"Please have a seat Harry," Turing up from his book, Dumbledore acknowledged Harry's presence, and motioned for him to sit down. All to quickly, Harry sat and stared awe struck at the office in all of its usual splendor. The portraits of past headmasters hung around Dumbledore's office like ornaments on a celebratory Christmas tree. Most were blank, probably on missions for the Order in other paintings, others were asleep, and still more of them held blank stares with Harry, looking down upon him in depressive glances.

"I see that Tonks and Alastor have delivered you in one piece."

"Yes sir, along with some interesting conversation."

"Pertaining to what Harry?"

"The Death Eaters and Draco Malfloy's father."

"Ah yes, as I recall I asked Alastor to inform you. And he did, good."

"Why did Draco's father go free?"

"Because, and to you this may sound unwise, I wanted him to. I defended him at his Ministry hearing, as much as I hated it, I had to, for the good of the Order." That blew Harry away. What possible advantage would they gain from having an Ex Death Eater around?

"And, I am sorry to have to tell you that he will be around Hogwarts this year. Please, when you do figure out who he is, I trust you have the maturity to not tell anyone, and the respect enough to leave him well enough alone. It is my belief he can help us greatly, and for the time being we need to trust him." Responding to the confused and angry look on Harry's face Dumbledore continued.

"And now onto the reason I originally brought you hear this evening. Your 5th year is over Harry. And it is obvious you have learned much, but one would wonder what to do with ones self over such a long summer break. As I see it, you have several options." Dumbledore was up to his usual metaphorical bantering…

"Pardon my confusion, but what exactly do you mean?"

"Well Harry, you can either return to Little Whinging to spend another summer with your Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, along with that cousin of yours, what's his name? the chubby one…"

"That would be Dudley, sir." Harry could visualize Dudley even now, after everything that had happened. The memory of the fat oaf he had left behind had been exchanged by a thought of what the new Dudley would look like after this term. Even more fat seemed impossible; he had probably lost contact with his…years ago.

"Ahh yes… living with your aunt, uncle, and Dudley, whom as I understand it, you are quite fond of," The sarcasm in his voice, as whispered as ever, would have gone unnoticed by a normal passerby, but Harry knew Dumbledore a lot better than most.

"Or, you can depart with Professor Flitwick and I towards the mountains in the north in order to gain a few greatly needed allies for our next battle. I have a feeling it will be far greater than any we have ever seen. And, to ensure this trip is an interesting one, I have asked your friends to join us. They have already agreed to, and gotten permission to, accompany us. They are, at this moment, busily awaiting your arrival by the lake. All you are required to do is send a letter to your uncle explaining where you will be, because he would otherwise be doubtlessly worried about you," Harry was elated, for the first time since Sirius' death, there was some joy in his heart. Dumbledore knew him all to well. "And there will also be several, bonuses, if you will, to coming along. I have already issued a request to one of our agents in the Ministry stating that you, and your friends, will hopefully have the right to use magic whenever the need calls, outside of Hogwarts, and on more permanent basis, even though you have yet to graduate." Another plus for Harry, but he was still slightly perplexed.

"Yes sir, I – I would love to come, but I have a few questions first, if you don't mind."

"Of course not, I would be astounded if you didn't. I promise I will answer to the best of my ability. Know that you may not be satisfied with some of the answers I give you." Dumbledore was trying to hide something, and rightly. If Harry had found out then and there where they were going, all could have been lost. For Voldemort to learn the secret outposts of the elves and dwarves would have been disastrous.

"First of all, and with all due respect, why us? What do the three of us sir, that is myself, Hermione, and Ron, poses that it would prove necessary for you to take us along?"

"You must understand, Harry, that you are the greatest asset to those who believe that Voldemort has returned. I wish to keep you safe from any harm the Dark Lord may wish to do you. Hermione is certainly a very intelligent young lady who I feel could gain much knowledge from this trip. Ron, well lets be honest, however loyal, Ron has some growing up to do that it appears to me you and Ms. Granger have already accomplished. With the developments of the past months, I believe tat I should be as close to you as possible at all times. Not that I am the most skilled wizard, but it has been speculated that Voldemort fears me more than nay other thing, including death. Because in a sense Harry, he has already died once. Being so, he no longer fears it, because humans and wizards alike, being that _we are_ a similar yet different breed, only fear those things that we have not truly experienced, or have only experienced the bad side of. Take Ron and his fear of spiders for example,"

Dumbledore wasn't really supposed to know about that. Harry and Hermione had kept that a secret from everyone else. The only reason Dumbledore knew was because of my conveniently equipped talents as a hat of many mysteries.

"Ron has only been chased by spiders, small, large, and overly gigantic, and has not noticed their conveniently equipped talent for eating small rodents and other pests that, inconveniently, magical aptitude cannot affect. Voldemort has already experienced something very close to dying, so he does not fear it as much as a normal being would, all because of his _true_ experience. However logical, this isn't _entirely_ true, Voldemort does not necessarily _fear_ death, he just claims there to be nothing worse than it, which in fact, is his greatest weakness. Because Harry, there are many- many things that are much- much worse than death." Why would Dumbledore go off on such a tangent only to turn around and say he was wrong? As I see it, he was trying to explain to Harry that he has no time for fearing Voldemort, because he has already experienced him, and he experiences him just about everyday through the mind link they share. Although Harry did not really understand, he cautiously replied,

"Yes sir, I –I understand. And, sir, where exactly are we going?"

"I cannot reveal that to you completely. All I am liberty to tell you is that we will be searching for people, if that is what you wish to call them, whom Professor Flitwick, or I, have not seen for far too long. And, that we will be going two places, first, someplace so cold it freezes the magic within your soul, and second, someplace so low that you will feel as if you are melting next to mother nature's heart." With a small sigh Dumbledore seemed to be content in the thoughts of the places he was reflecting upon. Harry however, was skeptical. No place with the astounding beauty he had just heard of had ever been brought to his attention.

"Okay sir, but there is still one thing I am confused about. Why Professor Flitwick?"

'_An average Charms teacher can't be that important,'_ so he though…

"That, sadly, is another thing I cannot yet reveal to you. The knowledge you seek is a far greater secret than any other I have ever kept. Lets, for now, just say the Professor Flitwick is as potentially invaluable to us as you are, Harry. For it is out of pure desperateness that we use his contacts, and I cannot say who they are, as it would be saying too much. To find out why we need the Professor, may I suggest just asking him yourself?"

'_Okay, it could work…'_ Harry thought. And why not? He could ask the Professor at any convenient time and wouldprobably not get an answer… Harry had overlooked one fact, that he was definitely not as close to Flitwick as he was with McGonagall or Dumbledore, or even Snape for that matter. Now that he came upon the thought, he didn't know much of any of the teachers except Snape. Dumbledore was unquestioningly the biggest mystery, and McGonagall was good at revealing nothing about herself. He then became aware that it was like this with all the teachers, they were great at keeping secrets from most people, just not me…

At least he knew a little of Snape's personal life, not that it overjoyed him, but it was still personal. He came to the conclusion that he knew nothing of any of the Professors; they were all open books...with no writing.

'_Well, if anyone knows anything about Flitwick, it'd be Hermione, and she and Ron will be with me all summer!'_ Needless to say, Harry was thrilled. Sitting in Dumbledore's office was no place to write an impersonal letter to someone to are pleased to be separated from, so Harry got up to leave.

As Harry left Dumbledore's office, Dumbledore picked his book back up and read, the old man's glee was undeniable, this coming from a man who normally shows no emotion, other than a display of joy at the sight of sherbert lemon drops.

Harry ran up to the Owlry, ignoring the bought of fatigue that slay him as he climbed the last step to where the owls rest. Hedwig stood, proud and vibrant as ever, awaiting Harry's arrival. Harry began to write the letter with a piece of old parchment and quill he had borrowed from Dumbledore.

_Uncle Vernon,_

_Due to recent events here at Hogwarts, I will not be returning to spend summer break in Little Whinging with you. I will be here at school serving time for my silliness this year. I have broken several hundred rules and now have to stay in an all summer detention program. With all due respect - _

— _Harry Potter_

Harry had to make it sound as if he were being punished. If he had been truthful and told Vernon that he would actually be enjoying himself, his uncle, by some means, would have sent a reply stating that Harry had to come immediately home and never return. Personally, I wouldn't have put it past him, and Dumbledore would have had to respect Vernon's wishes, even at the cost of a major loss. The letter was short, sweet and to the point, which was all Vernon needed to dismiss it and say,

"Well, less money I have to spend taking care of this ruddy owl of his." And little (Insert sarcasm here…) Dudders would probably be thrilled to have his extra room back upon returning from camp. Please note that I have never seen the alleged hippopotamus, but I could, if I wanted to…but there is something unpleasant and unappealing about viewing fat people, accidentally or on purpose.

Harry tied the short letter to Hedwig's left foot and sent her off. With a little hoot she took off soaring upward and out of the Owlry.

Harry ran to the lake, it had only been two weeks, but he already felt a lifetime apart from his friends and couldn't wait to see them. There they sat, by the lake as Dumbledore had said. Harry could see they sat closer together than usual, and that their heads were touching…

'_No, they couldn't be…'_ Oh, but they could. At that moment Hermione rolled over on top of Ron, and they were kissing, not just kissing, but snogging. He took a few steps forward, and before Harry could say anything, Hermione turned her head slightly and saw Harry, eyes bugging.

"Oh! Harry, uh…uh…how are you?" In the process of saying this she had gotten off of Ron and slowly walked a few inches away from him, brushing off the dirt from her pink sweatshirt.

"Hermione! What the…Oh! Harry, um…how are you mate?" After a gesture from Hermione in Harry's direction, Ron discovered he was there. Harry couldn't believe he had just caught Ron and Hermione snogging by the lake. They had been on top of each other!

"I'm fine," Harry replied, "but it seems to me the two of you are doing much better…_together_." Harry smiled slyly, dumbfounded as to why he hadn't spotted it sooner.

"Well, we really kissed you, I –I mean missed you, mate," Ron was busted, red handed and red faced, blushing profusely.

Harry couldn't believe he had misinterpreted the casual hand-holding and clinging as a girly way of showing friendship.

'_She has liked him all along!'_ And it was pretty obvious that Ron felt the same.

"Well I never expected to see the two of you together, or on top of each other for that matter…but they do say opposites attract, and I have to admit that snogging by the lake is pretty romantic…"

"Oh Harry!" Hermione was obviously embarrassed. She stormed of toward the castle with a rather angry stride and turned round, small tears formed in her eyes and fell, caressing her blushing cheeks. '_Why does this have to happen to me? I don't know what the hell my problem is!'_ and neither did anyone else. It was probably just _womanly _problems anyway…

"Blimey," Ron heavily sighed.

"What's wrong with Mione?" Harry hadn't seen her this upset since Ron made fun of her in first year.

"All that I know is that her parents are getting a…whatdidshecallit…divorce! She is really upset about it. Apparently she got home for break and there was fighting as soon as her and her mum walked in the door. She is awfully messed up bout it to. She was tellin' me all this and then we started to kiss…and she wound up on top of me… well huh, you saw."

'_A divorce…poor Hermione. She ahs to be really upset, but how is having a snog-fest with Ron going to fix it?'_ Harry sometimes never understood the way Hermione thought.

"What is a divorce anyway?"

"Hows about I tell you when you're a little older." Somehow, sitting on Hogwarts grounds again made Harry feel better about his overall situation, he had things to be happy about, and they put him in a joking mood.

"Oh ha-ha-ha Harry, so funny, but really, what is it?"

"Her parents are getting split up, permanently; it'll rip her family apart."

"Geez, feel a need to be blunt? And why would her parents want that anyhow? Nobody Breaks up in the wizarding world, nobody, not ever."

"As far as I know Ron, shit just happens, shit happens, no other way to explain it."

"Downright dumb if you ask me."  
"Well nobody did ask you, did they?" Harry had meant it as a joke, a change in subject, but for some reason, Ron took serious offense.

"Why would you? You and Hermione are always so smart, you get everything figured out. I always feel left in the dark, and stupid, just plain stupid, no other way to explain it."

"Since when do I have everything figured out? Last time I checked, Voldemort still wanted to kill me, Sirius was dead, and now I am going on another freakin' mission for the good of all humanity. Since when do** I** have everything figured out?" Harry hadn't meant to explode, but Ron had started first by yelling at him.

After some silence,

"And you're not stupid you know…"

"Right, whatever you say genius boy…" Ron was still angry…  
"Oh come off it Ron, who put a bug up your arse anyhow?"

"No one…"

And with that, a blushing Ron got up and brushed the dirt and grass off his jumper.

"C'mon Harry, lets get back to the castle and see what they're serving for dinner." Without hesitation, Harry got up to join him. They walked slowly; admiring the Hogwarts grounds they were so fond of.

The yellow-orange sun was setting in the west and casting haunting shadows over the trees. Wildlife flew in and out of empty slots in the ceiling of the thickly wooded Forbidden Forest. The night was coming; the sounds of bat's wings flapping and their screeches filled the sir. Then all was silent and from the forest came an erupting force of branches and out came a centaur similar looking to Firenze, but the boys didn't see anything. The centaur ran back into the forest and out of sight. Then silence again, which Ron, carelessly broke.

"So, are you coming with us or are you going back to Surrey to live with those muggles?"

"As far as I know I'm going, unless something happens so that I can't, I am actually looking forward to it, although I really don't know what to look forward to. Do you know anything about what we're doing?"

"No more, and probably less, than you do. Hermione probably knows a lot, being she always asks the right questions, but it's not like she's going to tell us know…" So true, one of Hermione's greatest qualities, and one of the reasons I put her in Gryffindor, is that she is capable of, and she will, hold a grudge until the end of time.

"Anyway, what have you been up to?" Ron clearly had stories to tell. Being that his parents were part of the Order, he had to have a part in dealings with it.

"Well, Fred and George finally got their joke shop up and running in Diagon Alley. With all of their final orders coming, and all the time they have been spending making their products, I have been pretty busy. I was pretty distracted for the most part of last week, and then they told me about the smuggling operation," Ron was about to continue when Harry cut him off.

"There is a smuggling operation? Since when?"

"Since Fred and George first decided to open a shop. Their running supplies through to the Order and pretending they're ordering them for the shop. I had to do a lot work at_ Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes_, the stuff the Order uses doesn't just appear out of thin air you know, there is a lot of work involved, trust me."

"Why do we have to smuggle? Can't we just get the stuff like normal people would?"

"Apparently not. The Ministry has been keeping close watch no Dumbledore's actions, there are rumors spreading that they are watching everyone who associates with him to, and that means us. Dad has had to become a double-agent of sorts, working for both sides but helping us with info and such. We have to sneak the stuff to get what we need, food, equipment, the whole lot."

"So Harry, how are _you_?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well after everything, Sirius dying before we could clear his name…everything that has happened, Vol-, _his_ return, just everything. Are you alright?"

'No Ron, not really, but I'll have to deal with it, right? I can't run off and snog with somebody to forget all my problems. I can't run and hide form Voldemort forever can I?"

"How many times do I have to ask you not to say his name out loud? And, are you saying that Hermione doesn't want me for me? Because, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it thought she liked me…"

"That's not what I mean Ron, and I think she does, but don't have anybody now except you and Hermione, not that I'm not thankful for you, because I am, but who am I supposed to snog with? Hermione is obviously yours, and I'm not about to kiss you, so where do I go? Cho is messed up over Cedric, still, and I really can't blame her, but who do I snog with?"

"Sorry Harry, definitely not a question to ask me. I don't know, I still can't get over the fact thatI just finished having a snog-fest with Hermione, excuse me while I gloat."

"Whatever Ron…but just think, tomorrow we will be departing on a journey that no one has ever taken, or ever heard of." Wrong assumption Harry, wrong assumption, I have there at least a dozen times…

"Welcome to the wizarding world. Unexpected things happen all the time, and for some reason, the three of us always seem to be stuck in the middle. We are the greatest thing to hit Hogwarts since your dad and the Marauders."

"But we have done, and are doing, so many wrong things. We have gone against our parents, the Ministry, even our normal selves. Redemption seems like a waste of time."

"It is."

* * *

A/N - PlZ R & R! it is your duty as a fan-fictioner! 


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